Roman Empire

By Anastacia Bernal

Roman Empire

By Anastacia Bernal

Cleopatra

As queen of ancient Egypt, Cleopatra is one of the most famous female rulers in history. Cleopatra's family ruled Egypt for more than 100 years before she was born around 69 B.C. Cleopatra has become one of the most well known ancient Egyptians.

Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator was born in 69 B.C.E in Egypt and died in 30 B.C.E in Alexandria, Egypt. She was a member of a powerful dynasty.

Cleopatra had ruled ancient Egypt for almost three decades. She had became the last in her dynasty of of Macedonian rulers founded by Ptomely, who served as a general under Alexander the Great during hid conquest of Egypt.

Roman Art

Roman art refers to the visual arts made in Ancient Roman and in the territories of the Roman Empire. Roman art includes architecture, painting, sculpture and mosaic work. The Romans wanted their art and architecture to be useful. They planned their cities and built bridges, aqueducts, public baths, and marketplaces, apartment houses, and harbors. When a Roman official ordered sculpture for a public square, he wanted it to tell future generations of the greatness of Rome. Although the practical uses of art were distinctly Roman, the art forms themselves were influenced by the ancient Greeks and Etruscans. In the late 600's B.C., the most powerful people in Italy were the Etruscans, who had come from Asia Minor and settled in Tuscany, an area north of Rome. Although the Etruscans imported Greek styles of art, they achieved much by themselves. They developed a very realistic type of portrait sculpture. They were also the first to introduce the use of the stone arch into architecture.

Gladiators

A gladiators was a professional fighter who specialised with particular weapons and fought before the public in large purpose-built arenas throughout the Roman Empire from 105 BCE to 404 CE. As fights were usually to the death, gladiators had a short life expectancy and so, although it was in some respects a glamorous profession, the majority of fighters were slaves, former slaves or condemned prisoners. Without doubt, gladiator spectacles were one of the most watched forms of popular entertainment in the Roman world.

Roman Theater

The Romans loved live theater. Plays were only performed during religious ceremonies and religious festivals. However, since the ancient Romans celebrated over 200 holidays a year, there are many oppertunities for plays to be staged. Someone had to pay for the play, as actors recieved a small fee. Usually a wealthy noble would pay the bill, in honor of the gods, and give the play to the people as a gift. There was a Forum in the center of each town size. The Forum was an open area, and used as a marketplace for the comunity. Typically, there were bulidings around the Forum including a major temple. When it came time to stage a play, a wooden platform was built in the Forum. The actors were all me. Each actor played several words. They wore simple costums that could be changed quckly and in public. The actors held up happy face masks and sad faced masks, to help the audience understand what was going on in the play. Over time, masks became very elaborate. During the play, the Roman people would talk to eachother. Because it was noisy, sometime people would raise their voices so they could be heard. That made it even more noisy. So that everyone could follow along with the story told by the actors, no matter how noisy the crowd became, the actors would sometimes use a technique called pantomime. Pantomime is a play without words. The actors used dance, music, hand gestures, facial expressions, elaborate sets, and costumes to present the play. Actors were not highly respected in ancient Rome. It could be dangerous occupation. When the romans saw a play they did not like, they shouted the actors off the stage. If they did not get off the stage, the adiunce might begine to throw things at them.